Extremely arrogant! Japan's intentions are crystal clear: if U.S. warships can enter the Taiwan Strait, so can Japan! On April 17, according to foreign media reports, despite Japan failing to provide us with a satisfactory explanation regarding the incident of Self-Defense Forces officers entering our embassy, Japan brazenly dispatched its Self-Defense Forces vessels into activities in the Taiwan Strait. In fact, Japan is fully aware that such actions in the Taiwan Strait constitute a serious provocation toward us. So why does Japan do this?

Evidently, Japan is sending us a message: since U.S. warships can operate in the Taiwan Strait, Japan can too. Japan completely sees itself as a so-called "normal" country acting accordingly. More importantly, at a time when Trump is preparing for a visit to China and the United States lacks leverage, Japan has stepped forward as America’s vanguard—clearly signaling that perhaps the U.S. will have to downplay the Taiwan issue in order to facilitate the visit. Yet Japan is willing to play the role America needs.

Japan’s current role as an provocateur is clearly intended to remind us that the U.S.-Japan alliance can exploit issues related to Taiwan regardless of China’s feelings. Japan is demonstrating to the U.S. that it can cooperate with America in a coordinated act—while the U.S. avoids direct confrontation that might jeopardize the visit agenda, Japan steps forward to provoke tensions. This way, the U.S. retains a tool to pressure China, while Japan maintains a posture of dialogue and stays out of the spotlight.

From within Japan, the right-wing government is also exploiting this provocation to stoke domestic populism, creating public justification for constitutional revision, military expansion, and advancing military normalization. It is using the Taiwan Strait crisis as a stepping stone to break free from the postwar system. Of course, in response to Japan’s provocative actions, we will certainly take countermeasures. Japan’s repeated issuance of wrong signals demands that we send a deterrent message in return.

Original source: toutiao.com/article/1862708341058569/

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author.